Giants Trade for Jeff Keppinger, Recall Brandon Belt

Well, it's trading season, and the Giants have made their move, acquiring Jeff Keppinger from the Astros in exchange for minor-league pitchers Henry Sosa and Jason Stoffel.

It's not the sexiest move in the world, but it does mean improved offense and defense in the infield and comes at a price that's not too steep.

Speaking of sexy, Brandon Belt is back with the big-league club after an extended run in Fresno -- per CSN Bay Area's Jaymee Sire, Belt was brought back up to the big leagues at the expense of Hector Sanchez, who was recently recalled to provide some catcher depth.

Sanchez, incidentally, tweeted that he was being shipped back to Fresno earlier in the day.

Back to Keppinger for a second, though: is it a deal that can help swing the Giants into "World-Series favorites" status? No, probably not.

But as Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury-News writes, it does "plug the need for an all-around shortstop and right-handed bench guy."

Miguel Tejada had been swinging a pretty hot bat as of late, but injured himself on Monday night and his normally offensive defense is just unacceptable thanks to the ab injury.

Scott Willis of Crazy Crabbers does the fancy math on the trade, and believes that Keppinger, who's been "putting up a nice year," equates out to about "1.5 to 2" wins as a player. That's pretty good for what the Giants gave up.

Grant Brisbee of McCovey Chronicles also breaks down the deal and, after awkwardly admitting he liked the A.J. Pierzynski deal, says this is his "favorite move since" that very deal. Which is damning.

But also an indication that the Giants went out and got an upgrade at middle infield without paying too much for it. When you're a team predicated on pitching, that's good news indeed.

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